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MLSE & Bon Jovi to Pursue NFL/Buffalo Bills

JMSRead said:
Shoalts speculates that MLSE could look to build an NFL stadium around Downsview or Woodbine racetrack. Also (as has been recently speculated), states MLSE has been looking at keeping the Argos alive at BMO to avoid the bad press killing that team off would entail.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/spor...um-would-be-a-2-billion-play/article15581107/

As a big NFL fan, I'd love to see a team here. As long as there's no use of public funds, why not? Would be fun.
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I would be happy with a downsview location. something accessible by transit but still allows for tailgating.
 
There's still the question of how the NFL would approve of this- I'd imagine they would prefer a team in Los Angeles before Toronto. And then there's the cost of building an appropriate stadium.
 
http://www.torontosun.com/2013/11/25/premier-kathleen-wynne-open-to-moving-buffalo-bill-to-toronto

TORONTO - It wasn’t a political touchdown but Premier Kathleen Wynne did not rule new sports infrastructure for the Buffalo Bills out of bounds.

“I’m not going to go down that road but as I said, the sports industry is an industry that is very important and tourism is critical,” Wynne said Monday, when asked about a new Buffalo Bills stadium.

“It’s why we’re so enthusiastic about the Pan-Parapan Games because we know that bringing all of those athletes, bringing 41 countries from the Pan American world to come here to compete is extremely important and there will be a legacy to the Pan-Parapan Games in terms of affordable housing, in terms of venues.

“So I’m a big fan of sports infrastructure — not making a commitment — but I am a big fan of that kind of event that leads to a legacy,” Wynne said.

The premier said she would be guided by the principle that the CFL remains viable.

“We wouldn’t want to hurt the Argos,” she said.
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Uncle Teddy said:
NFL would be major in Toronto if we had our own team.
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I keep hearing this but the city has yet to prove it.

RPM said:
i'd say the opposite. The Bills are a pin drop in the TV bucket... a team in Toronto will bring an additional TV contract that Buffalo could never garner for the NFL. Do you think losing Buffalo would reduce a national contract ? pfft nope. whereas Toronto would be a new revenue generator.

The NFL is thinking Global, they want a team in London, does the TV contract prevent that too ? nope... it too will be a new revenue stream.
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Would the NFL really gain any new TV revenue in Canada though? Canada isn't a new market to the NFL, there are already TV deals with multiple networks that show games every week. A team here wouldn't change that.

Add to that the fact that the NFL wants to see a strong CFL because CFL fans tend to be NFL fans too (the same way that soccer fans watch both MLS and Euro leagues). The two leagues have a symbiotic relationship and the NFL could actually end up losing fans in Canada if it messed with that. You have to remember that the rest of Canada actually likes the CFL.

A team in London is certainly ambitious and I have no idea how serious that actually is. But they've done a lot more than Toronto has to earn it. In London they get 80,000+ paying fans at Wembley Stadium year after year. In Toronto, Rogers gives away tens of thousands of tickets trying to fill seats at SkyDome. That speaks volumes.
 
Buffalo is too small to have any impact on the NFL US contract.. and yes the NFL would get more for a TO team.

I always laugh at those who want to protect the CFL yet you can't draw flies to the Argos games... if the CFL depends on Toronto, then the league is f*k*d period. It will probably be because of the NFL coming to Toronto that saves the Argos anyways it seems. Rogers will buy them, promise to keep them afloat. the CFL keeps the team, the NFL backers get their wish. everyone is happy.

I don't think you'll find too many locals wanting to pay to support the Bills. I wouldn't even take free tickets for a Bills game, doing anything to support Buffalo just hurts our chances at a team. But I'll be the first to plunk down my dough for an NFL Toronto team tho. Personally I don't think the NFL looks at these games as being critical to TO getting a team. The only way we get a team is if it's the Bills (or somehow the Bills move elsewhere and there is no regional team). Everyone is just waiting ghoulishly for Wilson to drop dead. Until then nothing will happen anyways.
 
GenerationW said:
Jon Bon Jovi not pursuing Bills:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10034339/jon-bon-jovi-reported-pursuit-buffalo-bills-refuted

Nice attempt here to try and sell more Bills tickets. Naturally there were more than enough gullible members of the Toronto media who bought this con job.

Nothing to see here.
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I don't think it is a con job. They probably don't want to be too open about it and get the people of Buffalo upset before they have to. Buffalo is going to sell one day and as much as LA should have a team the NFL would like to keep the Bills in its area. Id assume what will happen is that when the transition happens that the Bills will play the majority of their games in Toronto and then a token two games in Buffalo each year. Keeps everyone happy. As for LA that thinking is that the NFL would like to make a major pay day on an expansion fee and it sure looks like LA would bid something stupid based on how much they paid for the Dodgers while they still sucked. LA is a major TV market and their TV deals make up for a lot of their costs. The Lakers make 150 million a year on TV alone.
 
RPM said:
you wonder why people in Toronto prefer the NFL ? probably the same reason CFLers are just players that can't make the NFL... because it's the top league.

As for Baltimore, ask some of the CFL players from Baltimore, fans would ask them when they are going to turn pro...

the CFL is a great league for cities that are too small for the NFL... maybe the Argos can move to Buffalo ?
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Viewpoints like your infuriate be beyond any means.

I'm putting you on my ignore list before I get an infraction from speaking my mind.
 
Riverdale Rink Rat said:
As long as not one dollar of public money goes into another bloody stadium, have at it! Buy some land, build a stadium, tailgate your heart out.

But that's not the way this works, is it?
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I could support this if it were the same attitude towards all buildings where the public gathers....but opera houses, theatres and museums all get levels of support from the public purse....yet less members of the public seem to want to be at them.

Also, not all stadium deals lose money for the public......the City of Toronto gets a tidy little dividend every year from BMO Field.
 
RPM said:
Buffalo is too small to have any impact on the NFL US contract.. and yes the NFL would get more for a TO team.
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People said the same thing about the Raptors. Yet their TV ratings are abysmal.

GenerationW said:
Jon Bon Jovi not pursuing Bills:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10034339/jon-bon-jovi-reported-pursuit-buffalo-bills-refuted

Nice attempt here to try and sell more Bills tickets. Naturally there were more than enough gullible members of the Toronto media who bought this con job.

Nothing to see here.
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lol...yup, gotta love how the media and the NFL fans just ate it up. And they still are even after the story has been shown to be false.

CityPlaceN1 said:
The only way to prove it is to have a team in the city. Considering TV viewership for the NFL in Toronto I suspect it would be huge.
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No, there are a couple ways to prove it. The first is to show that Toronto is a football town by supporting the football teams that we already have. That's how Baltimore got their team. Another way would be to support the NFL when it actually does come to Toronto. Toronto fails on both counts. If supporting the Argos is such a repulsive prospect to football fans in Toronto, that just shows how weak support for the game really is.

TV viewership for NFL games isn't as impressive as you think. CFL games tend to get significantly more viewers than NFL games in Canada, and yes that includes Argos games. Some of the difference is made up by Canadians watching on American networks I'm sure, and NFL support is stronger in Toronto than in the rest of the country, but the fact remains that CFL viewership is very strong. Even the Argos, the weakest team in the league when it comes to attendance and fan support, get strong TV ratings.
 
The beauty of the NFL is that there is only 8 home games a year. That creates a supply and demand problem which would undoubtedly cause sell outs. Its also easy for casual people to follow... Personally 182 games is too hard to follow and the main reason I gave up on baseball other then how few teams they allot in the playoffs and its longer and longer games. People look at the CFL in Toronto as if its a secondary league. No different then how some major cities which have WNBA teams dont consider those teams on the same level. YES it is true I just compared a MALE football league to a professional womens league. Maybe others wouldnt put it that way but as someone who has been to three Grey Cups I feel I can call a spade a spade.
 
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